Paine's quintessential work on the subject of religion, "The Age of Reason," details his views on religion, including Christianity, which were so unpopular in his time that he was ostracized for them. He died a poor and obscure death; his bones where defiled, and his only remaining friend in the United States was Jefferson.
In the first chapter of his 1795 work, "Age of Reason," Paine defined in no unclear terms what his true religious beliefs are, and left any repercussions to be damned.
All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
Thomas Paine and America in the 21st Century
Would Thomas Paine be disappointed in today's American government? Yes, but not because the President is perusing an agenda which will provide universal healthcare to all citizens, but because the country when he risked his life to create did not come to the basic conclusion that heath care is a "natural right" (as he would've called it) 200 years prior.
Moreover, Paine would be so infuriated by the way that his own good name has been used against his very philosophies, that he would undoubtedly be inspired to write the greatest pamphlet of his career, and in doing so becoming the mortal enemy of those propagandists who defile his name for their conservative cause today.
When celebrating the birth of this greatest of all nations, this year and any other year, remember the courage of Thomas Paine's convictions, and recall them accurately, and not through the narcissistic delusions of his ideological enemies.
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